For Patriots' Brady, it's all about the Ws

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says there's only one statistic that concerns him at the quarterback position – the won-loss column.

Glen Farley The Enterprise @GFarley_ent

FOXBORO – When others look at Tom Brady they may see a quarterback whose passing yardage and completion totals last season were his lowest since 2010, whose completion percentage and passer rating were his lowest for a complete year in a decade and whose touchdown passes were his fewest for a full season since 2006.

When Brady looks at himself he sees a quarterback who directed his team to 12 regular-season wins and into another AFC Championship game in 2013.

“Other than wins and losses?” Brady said, interrupting an inquisitor who began to asked him what he regarded as the most important statistic to a quarterback.

Speaking to reporters on the field at Gillette Stadium Monday afternoon following a ceremony honoring the 2014 Myra Kraft Community MVP Award winners, Brady made it clear that to him it’s all about the Ws.

That lesson, Brady said, was learned as far back as the year 2000 when he arrived in New England as a lightly regarded sixth-round draft pick out of Michigan.

“I think winning games is the most important thing, certainly for this organization,” said Brady. “When you come here you learn that pretty quickly. That whatever matters to you as an individual, it’s far distant from what the team goals are. And the team goals are one thing – to score more points than the other team.”

Safe to say, then, Brady doesn’t give a whole lot of credence to a recent article by Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus declaring that at the age of 36 (37 in August), he is no longer a top-five quarterback in the NFL.

“Me as an individual, I always try to be the same,” said Brady. “I think I’ve tried to be pretty consistent for a long period of time. So that’s great motivation for me, to be the same caliber of player that I’ve always been for this team, and for the team to always depend on me. I don’t have a lot of worries that they’ll have to worry about me.”

As he so often has done in the past, Brady voiced his passion for the game and his intentions of continuing to play for years to come.

So pull up a seat, (second-round draft pick) Jimmy Garoppolo.

“I think things for me have become just more clearly focused for what I need to do to help us and hopefully I’m answering those questions a long time from now, too,” said Brady. “Guys can just reprint the stories or whatever you want to write now.

“I want to do this for this team for as long as I possibly can. I love playing football for this team and for this organization, and my goal’s to continue to play at a high level and there’s nothing that really gets in the way of that.”

For Brady, with the Patriots in their third week of organized team activities and headed toward minicamp next week (June 17-19), the process for 2014 is well under way.

“The thing that I’ve learned over the years is that you’ve got to pay the price in advance,” said Brady. “You just can’t run out on the field and expect things to be better without putting the time in, and extra effort. I try to be really consistent and dependable for our guys, and I think that’s what the quarterback position needs to be.”

Roster moves: Moves involving New England collegians saw the Patriots sign first-year tight end Kyle Auffray of the University of New Hampshire and release rookie free-agent wide receiver Derrick Johnson of the University of Maine.

Auffray signed with the Arizona Cardinals as a rookie free agent on May 13, 2013, but was released last July 23.

Locals honored: The 26 recipients of the 2014 Myra Kraft Community MVP Award included Braintree resident Robert Beach of the Wellesley-based Golf for All and Norwell’s Robbie Bergquist of that town’s Cell Phones for Soldiers.

Glen Farley may be reached at gfarley@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GFarley_ent.